jung@aludra.usc.edu (Eric Jung) (03/01/91)
I'm a graduate student on a tight budget, so that should answer the 'why.' Yes, I've seen discussions here, but not much info, so I'm asking again. I had an XT in which I used a ST-225 20 MByte disk on a Western Digital Controller (marked WDC 60... on the card). I bought a bare AT which uses an IDE controller. It currently has the hard disk controller dis- abled. BTW, it has AMI bios, and I set the CMOS appropriately. The whole PC just locks up when I boot with the hard disk installed. I'm using it fine right now from floppy. I have moved the disk from XT to XT over the years with no problem. Ideally, I would use it in the AT without reformatting -- leave all the data 'as is' on the disk. Is this possible? Or should I hook it to the IDE controller? Even some general help would be appreciated, or a pointer to a good book on the subject. Time is cheap, but I ain't got no money for a consultant or a better disk. Thanks in advance. Eric C. Jung 160 S. Virgil Ave. # 219 jung@usc.edu Los Angeles, CA 90004 213-385-7156
jung@aludra.usc.edu (Eric Jung) (03/01/91)
jung@aludra.usc.edu (Eric Jung) (That's me!) writes: >I had an XT in which I used a ST-225 20 MByte disk on a Western Digital >Controller (marked WDC 60... on the card). I bought a bare AT which >uses an IDE controller. It currently has the hard disk controller dis- >abled. BTW, it has AMI bios, and I set the CMOS appropriately. A big thank you goes to Chris Mullendore and Chris Peck for helping me out (independently) with my hard disk problem. (mull@bigbird.hri.com and chris@zork.cc.binghamton.edu, respectively) Apparently, to use an eight-bit hard disk controller in a 16-bit machine, one needs to fake out the machine's BIOS since the hard disk controller has its own BIOS. Specifically, when configuring the machine, don't tell it about the hard drive. Specify 'No Hard Drive' instead. Worked like a charm, although I still lost a 25 cent bet with my roommate that I could get the new computer up within half an hour! Thanks again to Chris & Chris! Eric Eric C. Jung 160 S. Virgil Ave. # 219 jung@usc.edu Los Angeles, CA 90004 A.K.A. 213-385-7156 ecj2@base.bellcore.com